Chii: Chapter 3. I have to say, this is the second time I rewrote this very chapter. And, thankfully, second time was a charm. I love how it's turning out.

Chapter 3: Instant Friends

The sound of the bell ringing, its chime traveling all throughout the school, was a sign of relief for weary students itching to get out of their confinement called Konoha Academy. Voices echoed the hallways as students were prepping to either go to their clubs, or head home. I, on the other hand, was going to be one of those people who were going to head home. There was no way I was going to stay in school just to waste my time in some silly club.

Sitting in my desk, I was gathering my stuff together and packing it all into my school bag. My mind was a bit off at the moment as I was focusing on leaving. But, my attention was caught when I noticed familiar spiky blonde hair. I looked up to see Naruto with a grin on his face.

"You heading home?" he asked, placing a hand on my desk and leaning on it.

Naruto was wearing a basket ball uniform. It was green and black in color with the words 'Konoha Academy' surrounding the number '03'.

I stood up and hoisted my school bag over my shoulder. "Yeah, I've got some catching up ta do on some drawings at home."

"That's it?" Naruto questioned with disbelief in his eye.

"Mhmm," I nodded. "I do some computer graphic art too, and I started something last night and kinda want to finish it."

"Oh come on," Naruto said, sternly. "You've got all the time in the world to draw. I'm inviting you to hang out with me and you're turning me down. I thought we were friends!"

A little shock came to my face at hearing the word 'friends' slip so easily from Naruto's mouth. "You're considering me your friend even though you just met me?"

"Yeah," Naruto grinned. "I think you're pretty cool, even if you're a little weird."

I had to say, that touched my heart. I had made a friend on the first day. I could not help but smile in pure bliss.

"Well, whaddaya say?" Naruto wondered.

I took a good look at his basket ball uniform. "Wouldn't I only get in your way since I'm on the team?"

"Nah, we're practicing today, so, you can sit on the side lines and watch," Naruto said, coming up with any kind of come back to get me to hang out with him.

Finally giving up on my stubborn act, I placed my school bag back on the hook of the desk. "Alright, I'll hang out with you."

Naruto's grin doubled in size. "Alright!"

Following Naruto, we headed off to the gymnasium. Walking through the halls, we passed endless amounts of classrooms until we came upon the shoe lockers. Passing through the crowd of students leaving school, Naruto was able to maneuver his way around all the restless students wanting to head home. Not being as nimble on my feet as Naruto was, I was starting to lose track of him.

Students began to surround me, pushing me out of their way so they could leave the school more quickly. Becoming a bit overwhelmed, I felt I was ready to have a panic attack. Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me out of the crowd.

"There you are!" I heard Naruto shout a bit as he came running towards me.

I looked in his direction. "Wait, so it wasn't you who pulled me out?" I looked at the owner of the hand that let go of me to find myself standing next to a totally different guy.

Recognizable cold onyx eyes pierced through me like they had earlier this morning. The teen was about two inches taller than Naruto with spiky black hair. Like Naruto, he was wearing the same basket ball uniform.

When Naruto reached us, he stood next to the taller guy. "Hey, thanks for helping out Tomoko, Sasuke-teme."

Sasuke gave to same glare to Naruto he had to me. "Keep track of your pet next time, Dobe."

Flustered, Naruto went into a slight rage. "What? Pet? N-no! Tomoko's only a friend!"

With nothing but a scoff, Sasuke began to walk away. "Hurry up, Dobe, or Coach will chew us out for being late. And, maybe you should a put a leash on your pet so he doesn't try to run away again."

Naruto growled in anger. "Shuddup, Teme!"

Sasuke just gave him a smirk and disappeared into the crowd.

"Guh," Naruto calmed down. "He pisses me off sometimes." Naruto looked at me. "I'm sorry, Tomoko. Sasuke can be such a jerk sometimes. I don't get how he's popular with the girls when he has that kind of personality."

We both started to walk towards the halls again heading towards the gymnasium.

"Maybe they just like him for his looks?" I answered him after a few minutes of silence.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at me confused.

"Girls possibly like Sasuke because he's the bad boy type and all mysterious," I said, trying to keep up conversation.

"How would you know this?" Naruto questioned.

"My mom married a bad boy," I replied. "Well, at the time my dad was one when he was younger. Now he's just kind of a stern person."

"Oh, I see," Naruto looked at me.

After a bit more silence, we headed right into the gym. Upon walking in, to my left, there was a large group of people; mostly consisting of girls. Then, to my right, the basket ball club was stretching as a warm up before practice.

"Well, I gotta go warm up," Naruto said. "We'll meet back here when I'm done, 'kay?"

I just nodded as a response.

With that, Naruto trotted off to meet up with his team.

"Tomoko!" I heard my voice called.

I turned to the gathering crowd to see Ino waving at me. Smiling, I jogged over to her. "Hi, Ino."

With her, were Sakura and two others. One was a busty girl with long, dark purple hair and light lavender eyes. The other was a guy with paper white skin and straightened jet black hair in a wolf cut.

"Tomoko, this is my boyfriend Sai," Ino started. "And, the shy looking one is Hinata."

Hinata bowed instantly after Ino had finished the introductions. "I-It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tomoko-san."

I chuckled a bit, bowing in return. "No, the pleasure is all mine, Hinata-hime."

I was a person who did not really care for formalities used in my name. But, just looking at Hinata with her polite way of speaking, and her perfect poise, I could say, with her, I did not mind if she wanted to be so formal with me.

A small blush formed on her face from me calling her 'Princess'.

"I'd watch out if I were you, Tomoko. Hinata's got a boyfriend who is very protective of her," Ino grinned.

"I'll keep that in mind," I noted. Turning to Sai, I gave him a warm smile. "And, it's nice to meet you too, Sai."

"Yes," Sai smiled back.

(Chii: Sorry, I can't think like Sai. D He's such a unique character; my mind can't process his personality. So, without making him OOC, I will not give him many lines. xDD I feel bad though, Sai is kickass.)

"So, are you here to watch Naruto play?" Sakura asked.

I looked over at the pink haired girl. "Yeah. He kinda forced me though."

"How did he do that?" she questioned.

"He pulled the friend card on me," I laughed.

Sakura giggled along with me. "Yeah, Naruto always wants to make new friends."

The five of us pushed our way through the crowd to try and steal front row. Right in front of us, separating the court from the sidelines were metal foldable chairs.

When we got up to the front, the boys already started a game. Two teams of the same club pit up against each other. One team just had their basic jerseys on while the other had to wear an orange cloth over their uniform.

I looked around to see which team Naruto was on. My eyes scanned the court until I spotted bright blonde hair. With the basketball, Naruto was treading through the court, swerving around other players. On his jersey, was the orange cloth.

"No wonder he moved faster then me," I whispered.

Just as Naruto was half way down the court, Sasuke blocked him; arms spread out as a maneuver to stop him from escaping.

"Go! Sasuke-kun!" I heard Sakura cheer.

Looking at Sakura, I saw she had such a loving look in her eyes. I had to only assume that Sasuke was her boyfriend. Looking back at Naruto, I saw him becoming a bit competitive.

Both boys went into a little match that was between them. The whole battle consisted of Sasuke bouncing the ball out of Naruto's grasp and dribbling it down the court behind Naruto, and Naruto chasing him for his prize to help him win a point.

The whole time during the game just involved Naruto and Sasuke's competitive nature in the sport. During the game, cheers were given out to only Sasuke. The cheers raised in volume ten fold every time Sasuke slapped the ball out of Naruto's hands. But, every-so-often, I would hear a soft cheer for Naruto escape from Hinata's lips.

This very game made me get to know Naruto a little bit better. It made me want to become a closer friend to him.

With a few minutes left on the clock, the game was close to over. Sasuke had the ball and was traveling full force down the court. Behind him, like a lion chasing its prey, Naruto was running to catch up. With a bit more force, Naruto was able to swing around Sasuke; stopping him dead in his tracks. Teammates of Sasuke lined up behind Naruto, raised up arms and shouting at the onyx eyed boy to hand them the ball.

My eyes focused on Naruto and Sasuke as they swung back and forth, each trying to find away around the other, the ball the treasure to finish off this game. Glancing over to Sasuke, I saw him mouth something to Naruto, causing him to look at me. I looked at Naruto confused, to only see Sasuke pass Naruto and shoot the ball right into the hoop.

"Ugh! He used me as a distraction!" I grumbled.

With the shout of 'game over' from the coach, loud cheers echoed through the gym. The crowd began to dissipate and surround Sasuke and his team congratulating him for the victory.

Seeing an upset Naruto walk away from the crowd, I rushed over to him. "Awesome game, Naruto!"

Getting him out of his zone, he looked at me with depressed eyes. "Thanks…"

"Come on," Trying to cheer him up, I continued. "You were amazing."

Naruto cracked a little smile. "Yeah, you're right, I was, wasn't I?"

"I think so," I smiled back.

"Thanks for watching me play," Naruto became happier.

"Anytime," I said.

There was an awkward silence between us for a bit until I remembered something.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to pay me back for having my sketch book taken away during third period?" I reminded him the promise he made to me this morning.

Naruto went wide eyed. "That's right! Oh! I should treat you to Ichiraku Ramen."

Happy he remembered I agreed to it.

Naruto and I split up for a bit, only meet at the shoe lockers later. He went to the locker room to change back into his school uniform while I went back to class to get our school bags. Meeting at the shoe locker, we switched our school shoes with our street shoes and headed out into the cool October air outside.

Buttoning up my uniform blazer, I shivered a bit.

"Cold?" Naruto asked.

"Nah, I'm okay," I retorted with a smile.

I have to say, today was quite a day. Meeting new and interesting people only made me excited for the days to come in my second year at Konoha Academy. With Naruto as my first friend here, I can tell that things were only going to get better.

Chii: Yay! Another chapter down. Thank Gawd I used more characters. I had a totally different idea between Naruto and Tomoko, but thought it would be too overwhelming for readers. xDD